Animation Festivals

How to Watch Online Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) 2020

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Written by ZF Team

Published: 14 March 2020

Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) has now its online edition, 5-10 May 2020.

Due to the spreading of the corona virus, the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) is not able to take place this year in the cinemas, on the Schlossplatz and in numerous other cultural venues as usual. Yet, from May 5 to 10, the festival will show a special ITFS programme.

At this specific time, it is of particular importance to establish a platform for the filmmakers, so as to provide visibility of and audiences for their creative and artistic works. At the same time, our fans can enjoy many artistic, animated films, if only at home this year for once. However, it is still important to us to organise a Festival for joint cinema experiences and opportunities for personal exchange again next year - Dieter Krauß, the Commercial Managing Director of Festival organizer Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH

For this purpose the festival will set up a free and a chargeable section.

The livestream is freely accessible. Here, the festival offers a mix of moderated interviews, live panels, and short films each day. Highlights include the Festival opening on Tuesday evening (May 5) and the awarding of the various competition prizes on Sunday evening (May 10). Certain parts of the Festival programme such as the curated Animated Music Video programme are also available on this section's playlist free of charge, which is complemented by editorial texts including comments and guest editorials.

Sunday 10 May

Noon – 1:30 pm: ITFS Workshops & Master ClassesNoon: Workshop by Tina Brenneisen: Sabotage techniques of storytelling in the comic medium // in Cooperation with Leibinger Stiftung1:30 pm: Women in Animation Muhterem Aras (President of the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg) and Lilian Klages (Animationsproducer) on the situation of women in animated film

Guests include Petra Olschowski (State Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Research and Art Baden-Württemberg), Benedikt Hummel (Studio Seufz), Ralph Thoms (Director of the NaturVision Film Festival Ludwigsburg)

The free GameZone The free GameZone offers a selection of game options and related tips for children and adults as well as digital, educational games; it also presents game academies and studios as well as the nominees for the Animated Games Award Germany 2020. In addition, workshops and lectures are available for live streaming.

OnlineFestival+ is the fee-based film area for streaming selected films and competition entries from the ITFS; these include short films from the International Competition, the student film competition Young Animation, Tricks for Kids, Trickstar Nature and selected feature films from the AniMovie competition. After registration, the short and feature films will be available from May 5 to 10. Additional video messages and explanations of the films are provided by the filmmakers. In addition, the complete 2020 competition programme will be shown again in top quality and on a big screen in the Innenstadtkinos at ITFS 2021 (May 4 to 9).

The feature films include one premiere: The touching film “A Costume for Nicolas“ by Eduardo Rivero (Mexico, 2019) about a ten-year old boy with Down syndrome: Every year, his mother made him a costume for his birthday – until she died.

In addition, "Zero Impunity" by Nicolas Blies and Stéphane Hueber-Blies (France / Luxembourg, 2018) from the current AniMovie Competition will be shown: an animated artistic documentary film that gives victims of war crimes, social workers and activists a voice - from Syria to Ukraine, the African continent and the USA. A real cult film is the feature-length film "Mary & Max" by Adam Elliot (Australia, 2008) as a mixture of "Wallace & Gromit" and "Harold & Maude", a suitably advertised clay animation film that will also be streamed at OnlineFestival+. With wit and warm-heartedness as well as a sharp eye for detail, the story of two deeply sad characters is told, who find joy in life through their friendship with each other.

The new “Trickstar Nature” competition category presents films dealing with nature and the environment and includes works by well-known studios such as Folimage with “Northern Lights” (France, Switzerland, 2019) and the short film “POLARBARRY-LET’S BREAK THE ICE!!-VLOG#207” by Wouter Dijkstra (Netherlands, UK, 2019).

Fee: 9,99 EUR

OnlineFestival Pro provides industry members and professionals with access to master classes including one held by Benjamin Renner, and to professional talks and links to the Animation Production Days (APD), Germany's most important co-production and financing market for animation. In addition, OnlineFestival Pro gives professionals (buyers, TV representatives, curators, etc.) the opportunity to access the Animated Video Market and view the major part of films submitted to this year's ITFS (around 1,900 films), and thus a unique overview of current animation productions.

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